Hepatitis C Infection in Hemodialysis Units

We performed an epidemiological study of the hepatitis C infection on 112 patients of 3 urban hemodialysis units using a recently developed anti-HCV recombinant based assay. Eleven patients (9.8%) were positive for anti-HCV. Among them, 8 (72.7%) were positive for anti-HBc, one of whom was HBsAg positive and 6 of whom were also anti-HBs positive. Surprisingly, all of the anti-HCV (+) patients were normal alanine aminotransferase. The mean age of the anti-HCV (+) patients was 50.7 ± 3.3 (mean ± SE) and that of the anti-HCV (–) was 47.6 ± 1.3. The mean duration (month) of hemodialysis of the anti-HCV (+) and anti-HCV (–) groups were 52.7 ± 7.2 (mean ± SE) and 60.9 ± 9.7, respectively. The prevalence of anti-HCV among anti-HBc positive subjects was 9.5% and that among anti-HBc negative subjects was 17.6%. This didn’t have any statistical significance according to the criteria of the study (p = 0.308). The prevalence of anti-HCV among the transfusion positive group was 11.0% and that of the transfusion negative group was 7.7%. This data showed the tendency for a higher prevalence of anti-HCV among the trasnfusion positive group, but this also didn’t reach statistical significance (p = 0.424). Of the 40 normal controls, none were anti-HCV positive. The prevalence of HBsAg in our hemodialysis units was 12.5%. This rate was not so much higher than the average population in Korea. The prevalence of anti-HCV and previous hepatitis B virus infection also had no significant relationship. This data suggests that the prevalence of HCV in hemodialysis units is higher than the normal population. The prevalence of HCV is not definitely associated with age, duration of dialysis, previous HBV infection status, or history of transfusion.